Kartik Lokhande's blog

* New tenders to have a clause making it mandatory for contractor to maintain the road constructed by him for five years Staff Reporter Public Works Department (PWD) has decided to scrap the tenders receiving bids that are below the set price by more than 15 per cent. Chandrakant Patil, Public Works Minister, announced this decision in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday in while replying to discussion on supplementary demands. Patil informed the House that if this decision cannot be applied in some cases, the department will take bank guarantee equal to the amount quoted in a bid. These steps will prevent the contractors from quoting price that is 20-30 per cent below the set price. The decision was taken as many instances came to the notice of the Government in which contractors had quoted very low price and had abandoned the work mid-way. Further, to ensure better e-tendering process, contractors from the district where e-tender for some work is floated will be eligib

Staff Reporter Maharashtra Government has fixed a time-frame, applicable from Tuesday, for disposal of quasi-judicial matters relating to land. Now, field-level Revenue Department officers have to decide a case within a year from the date of filing of such case. The step has been taken to reduce pendency as well as to streamline handling of the cases that are often filed under different laws. Eknath Khadse, Revenue Minister, announced this decision in Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. A Government Resolution (GR) in this regard will be issued and the changes will be applicable since Tuesday, he said while making a statement. “The step has been taken to streamline the functioning related to land matters, expedite disposal, having clarity in directions, and to reduce pendency,” he said. Since the cases relating to land were filed under various laws, there were complications. Hence, while deciding the cases, a law-wise special register dealing with these cases will be ma

Staff Reporter The issue of zudpi jungle has since long proven to be a big hurdle in the all-round development of Vidarbha region. A total of 1,78,000 hectares of land was spread across six districts of Vidarbha under the category of ‘zudpi jungle’. The Government has divided the land into two categories, and this will make available 86,409 hectares of zudpi land for deforestation to pave way for various projects, said Sudhir Mungantiwar, Forest and Finance and Planning Minister. Mungantiwar was replying to a debate on supplementary demands in Legislative Assembly on Monday. He informed the House that 92,116 hectares of the zudpi land actually had forest on it. Hence, that land will be given to Forest Department for forest management purposes. As far as deforestation of 86,409 hectares of land was concerned, Revenue Department has been asked to prepare tehsil-wise proposals. So far, Revenue Department has submitted 342 proposals. But, as the proposals had shortcomings,

* Final decision after receiving report of committee under Chief Secretary, says Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse * Local bodies to be empowered to issue NA permissions Staff Reporter Eknath Khadse, Revenue and Agriculture Minister, told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that the Government would regularise encroachments on private, Gunthewari, or agricultural land. Also, he said, land ownership rights would be granted to refugees, educational institutions, project-affected persons, co-operative societies, and freedom fighters. Khadse was replying to a debate on supplementary demands pertaining to his departments. In the State, 2.50 lakh houses are located on encroached land. These and encroachments on private or reserved lands, barring the grazing grounds, will be regularised. For the purpose, a law will be enacted. The only condition is that the encroachments should not be on Government lands or encroachments should not come in the way of any infrastructure development

Staff Reporter Refuting all the allegations of the Opposition point-by-point, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured the Legislative Assembly that Smart Cities project would not affect the powers of municipal corporations in the State. “Smart cities project is aimed at delivering efficient services to the last man,” he said. Fadnavis, who also holds the portfolio of Urban Development, was replying to a discussion on supplementary demands, in the Assembly on Monday. During the discussion, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan (Congress) alleged that the State Government had ‘tweaked’ the norms of the Centre as far as Smart Cities project is concerned. He also alleged that formation of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) company would affect the autonomy of municipal corporations, and that the State had changed the list of cities shortlisted for the project with ‘political intention’. Sunil Prabhu (Shiv Sena) also raised certain points. In his reply, Fadnavis elaborated on

By Kartik Lokhande In the second half of the month of May earlier this year, Rural Development Department launched with fanfare ‘Aamdar Adarsh Gram Yojana’ taking a cue from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative ‘Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’. Under the State’s scheme, MLAs and MLC were to adopt and a develop a village each. However, almost seven months have passed by and more than half of the legislators in Maharashtra have failed to complete the process for adopting a village. Of course, there are a few honourable exceptions like Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, who has adopted village Fetri in Nagpur district. However, there are many legislators including ministers and prominent leaders of the Opposition parties who are yet to submit a proposal for adopting a village. In fact, sources said, many have not even evinced interest in adopting a village. Interestingly, though many MLAs and MLCs are from urban centres including cities like Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nagpur, Nashi

  By Kartik Lokhande The first week of the winter session of State Legislature was marked by the usual drill of the Opposition parties raising the issue of farmers’ suicides, drought, compensation and the Government appealing to them to debate on the floor of the House. The only difference this time, however, was that the Government appeared to be more confident and hence more aggressive; while the Opposition was jittery. Every year, the entire State Legislature comprising the Government as well as the Opposition comes to Nagpur, the Second Capital of the State. Sadly, every year, the issue of either drought and farmers’ suicides or demand for statehood to Vidarbha dominates the Opposition charge. As a result, over the years, both these issues are getting diluted in public debate. This year, too, the Opposition parties – Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – raised the issue of drought and forced adjournments demanding loan waiver and relief package to farmers, but wit

Staff Reporter Girish Vyas, State Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was elected unopposed to Maharashtra Legislative Council from Nagpur Local Authorities’ Constituency. His elected was declared by the administration, after both the Congress candidates bowed out of the race on Saturday, the last day for withdrawal of nominations. Initially, there were six candidates in the fray for the seat. These included independent candidates Suresh Paunikar and Nitin Rai, Congress candidates Ashok Singh Chauhan and Sanjay Mahakalkar, and BJP candidates Girish Vyas and Pravin Datke, Mayor. There was supposedly a contest between Girish Vyas and Ashok Singh Chauhan as both were official candidates. However, on Saturday, as all the other candidates withdrew from the fray and only Girish Vyas of BJP remained, he was declared as elected unopposed. Sachin Kurve, District Collector and Election Officer, handed over the certificate of election to Vyas.  Nitin Gadkari, Union Mi

Staff Reporter Deepak Kesarkar, Minister of State for Finance and Planning, strongly defended the supplementary demands of Rs 16,094 crore tabled before State Legislature. He said that the demands, which will be passed after discussion in next two days, were higher as the BJP-Shiv Sena Government was committed to providing relief to farmers affected by drought. When it was pointed out that the supplementary demands presented on Tuesday were a record for winter session, Kesarkar said, “The previous Congress-NCP Government had presented the highest supplementary demands of Rs 20,000 crore during monsoon session of 2014. However, they did it keeping an eye on ensuing Legislative Assembly elections. And, we have presented supplementary demands of Rs 16,094 crore to provide relief to farmers. There is a difference.” Talking to reporters at his Ravi Bhavan cottage on Tuesday evening, Kesarkar said that supplementary demands this time included Rs 9,374 crore of non-plan expend

By Kartik Lokhande  They are from diverse backgrounds and different locations across Maharashtra, have varied interests. Four months ago, they joined the internship programme with mixed feelings -- different perception and curiosity about the Government functioning. With seven months remaining to complete the internship, they are a group of youngsters motivated to join the administrative services in Government domain. They are the ones chosen for the first batch of 11-month internship programme launched by none other than Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Fadnavis had floated the idea of appointing the interns from among screened youngsters and attaching them to work with various establishments including Chief Minister’s Office, Chief Minister’s War Room for projects, different Collector offices, and other agencies. Fadnavis had said some time ago, that the youths full of innovative ideas could help the Government in bring

* The project may be included in Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana Staff Reporter Maharashtra Government has proposed an allocation of Rs 350 crore in supplementary demands tabled before State Legislature on Tuesday. The allocation has been made to put the project’s remaining work on fast track. Deepak Kesarkar, Minister of State for Finance and Planning, said that Rs 350 crore was an additional provision made for Gosikhurd national project. As per the document detailing supplementary demands, the additional provision would be made available to Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC). It may be mentioned here that the project was conceptualised more than 27 years ago but it is yet to be completed. The main reason for delay in completion of this project being inadequate financial allocations, issues pertaining to forest clearances, escalation of cost over the years, etc. The mega-irrigation project has got the status of a national project. For some time, it a

* Rs 4,002.82 cr has been proposed for drought relief, and more amount for related expenditures Staff Reporter Maharashtra Government, on Tuesday, tabled supplementary demands of a record-breaking Rs 16,094 crore for approval before both the Houses of State Legislature. As had been hinted by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a substantial part of the supplementary demands has been proposed to provide relief to drought-affected farmers in the State. The supplementary demands tabled this time have broken the record of Rs 11,695 crore worth of demands presented by the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party led Democratic Front Government in the winter session of 2013. This time, the BJP-Shiv Sena led Government has surpassed that figure, and has tabled supplementary demands of a whopping Rs 1,60,94,14,83,000 that is a new record as far as supplementary demands tabled during winter session of State Legislature are concerned. Now, these supplementary demands will come

Staff Reporter A committee appointed to look into measures required for removal of backlog of Vidarbha region in co-operatives sector, submitted its report with recommendations to Chandrakant Patil, Co-operation Minister, on Monday. After watching a presentation on three-volume report, Patil said that it would help in removal of Vidarbha’s backlog in co-operatives sector. The Government had appointed a committee under Richa Bagla, Director (Textiles). Bagla submitted the report to Patil in a meeting held at Ravi Bhavan here. In its report, the committee has stated that there is potential for 72 co-operative spinning mills in Vidarbha, and has made several recommendations for growth of textile sector in the region. Some of the major recommendations are as follows: setting up Price Stabilisation Fund, interest-free loan to beleaguered District Central Co-operative Banks, increasing interest refund by three per cent, setting up soyabean and orange processing industries, st

* Drought Relief Committees to be formed at block, district, State level By Kartik Lokhande  Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Monday, asked the legislators of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to reach out to people and play active role in ensuring proper and effective implementation of various drought relief measures announced by the Government. He also asked them to stand united in State Legislature to face the Opposition firmly. “Other parties are resorting to symbolism against us. We are better placed and our Government is doing good job. We need not get disturbed by allegations levelled by the Opposition, or the anger and angst expressed by the people. For, we are in public life. Instead of focussing on other things, let us all concentrate on continuing with good work and reaching out to people in distress in drought-affected areas of State,” Fadnavis said. He was addressing the BJP legislators in BJP Legislature Party meeting held at the party hall in Vidhan Bhavan

By Kartik Lokhande   Supplementary Demands form an important legislative business during winter session of State Legislature held at Nagpur. Records reveal that the highest-ever supplementary demands presented before both the Houses was in the year 2013 during the regime of erstwhile Democratic Front (DF) Government led by Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance. In 2013, the DF Government presented supplementary demands of a whopping Rs 11,695.58 crore. To be precise, the figure was Rs 1,16,95,58,70,000/-. Sadly, that year, there was little disussion on such a huge amount of supplementary demands as there was pandemonium in both the Houses of State Legislature. But, that was not the only year when supplementary demands were passed with little discussion. On several occasions, in the last 16 years, supplementary demands were passed in this manner. As is the case, supplementary demands are presented by the Government when it feels the need for approval of the

By Kartik Lokhande A classic survives the tides of time, and storms of commercialisation. And, the latest Marathi movie ‘Katyar Kaljat Ghusli’ has proven this. Based on the musical drama of the same name, which is a milestone in Indian theatre, the movie has been made so finely that it also is set to become a milestone in Indian Cinema. Already, the movie has been showcased in International Film Festival, and is in the race for UNESCO’s coveted Fellini medal. Talking of commerce, this celluloid masterpiece with opulent sets and musical extravaganza has forced even the multiplexes to increase number of shows and days. In fact, in Nagpur, on Monday afternoon too, there was a long queue at a multiplex to buy tickets for the show of ‘Katyar Kaljat Ghusli’. This speaks of how well a quality cinema is received by audiences. The movie has a special connection with Nagpur. For, it is associated with two legends -- Purushottam Darwhekar aka ‘Master’, an acclaimed playwright-lyr

* Consultation paper on ‘Tourism Policy-2016’ proposes to attract investments to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore * It is proposed that MTDC may develop Vidarbha as special tourism zone Staff Reporter Maharashtra Government is gearing up to launch a new Tourism Policy next year, and has proposed a slew of measures to attract investments to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore and developing a strategy to create 10,00,000 jobs. A consultation paper released on Wednesday proposes various measures that may be beneficial for Nagpur and Vidarbha region. As per the consultation paper, status of special tourism districts is proposed for Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Sindhudurg. Under special focus to utilise rural landscape, Nagpur has been identified for its identity linked to Oranges. Nagpur and Vidarbha figure in the plans for development of Buddha Circuit under the initiative of religious, heritage, nature, culinary, education, Tiger eco-tourism, medical tourism etc. The Government has identi

* Under the project submitted by NEERI, NHAI approves implementation on Jam-Hinganghat stretch of NH-7 Staff Reporter National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approved a pilot project submitted by city-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) for undertaking scientific studies on designing green-belts along national highways. Interestingly, the pilot project is being implemented in Nagpur Division. The pilot project will be implemented on a 5-km stretch on NH-7 between Jam and Hinganghat at an estimated cost of  Rs 11.80 crore. Under the project, around 20,000 trees of scientifically chosen species are proposed to be planted on both sides of this stretch of National Highway-7 in multiple rows. For the purpose, various work activities have been delineated considering two major factors -- highway requirement and objectives, and plant characteristics to fit in the site requirement. The first factor of highway requirement and objectives compr

* November 2015 marks the culmination of birth centenary celebrations of Eknath Ranade, a son of Vidarbha who made it the cause of his life to realise the dream of Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari By Kartik Lokhande  It was 1962, a year that had stirred the atmosphere in the country owing to several factors including a war with China. In January 1963, India was to celebrate the birth centenary of Swami Vivekananda. In down south, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, tension was in the air over Swami Vivekananda’s memorial. There were attempts by some to claim the Rock off the shores of Tamil Nadu where Vivekananda meditated. A firm leadership is required to navigate through little storms in the journey towards realisation of a goal. Eknath Ranade, a man born in village Timtala in Amravati district of Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, was destined to be that firm leader as far as Swami Vivekananda’s memorial at Kanyakumari. Born on November 19, 1914, Eknath Ranade was the you

* These proposals involve those pertaining to transfer of land for Metro Rail project, 50 acre land for KKSU extension, 27.48 hectare land for NIPER etc Staff Reporter Since the new Government has taken over in the State, several new projects have been proposed in Nagpur district. These proposals require transfer and swapping of land. According to sources, over 30 proposals for transfer/swapping of land are awaiting nod at the level of State Government. These projects include ambitious Nagpur Metro Rail project, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), extension of Kavikulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University (KKSU), some part of Multimodal International Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) etc. Sources said that the proposals are at various stages of approval. The administrative machinery has completed formalities and even submitted compliances wherever required, and now the proposals are with the State Government. Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Guardi

Staff Reporter In a bid to curb the ‘undue expenditure’ incurred during winter session of State Legislature, General Administration Department (GAD) has asked various departments and Divisional Commissioner, District Collector at Nagpur to ensure that Government vehicles requisitioned for winter session do not go out of Nagpur even for official work. Winter session of State Legislature is commencing in Nagpur from December 7. Issuing a fresh set of instructions, the GAD has prescribed a limit of 80 km per day for each of the vehicles requisitioned for winter session. Even if a vehicle has to be taken out of Nagpur city limits, the respective user will have to submit justification and seek approval of Divisional Commissioner, Nagpur. These restrictions are being enforced as there were complaints during previous winter sessions that the official vehicles were being taken out of Nagpur city limits or being used for private purposes by ‘some’ office-bearers, officials, and employee

By Kartik Lokhande  The Union Ministry of Power has floated a proposal to reduce debt burden of power distribution companies as well as reduce losses. Under the plan, the Ministry has suggested take-over of debts of power distribution companies (DISCOMs) by respective States. Through this, the Centre aims at ‘permanent resolution’ of DISCOM issues concerning debt. During a meeting of State Power Ministers held recently, this proposal was floated and discussed. Under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), the Union Ministry of Power has made several suggestions including respective States taking over debts of DISCOMs, enabling quarterly tariff revision, increasing operational efficiency, lowering the cost of power, and laying emphasis on budgetary discipline. The quarterly revision of tariff has been suggested as the Union Ministry thinks that such periodic revision will be ‘easier to implement’ and that it will be ‘absorbed’ by consumers. In this regard, necessary cha